State v. Crump

941 N.E.2d 859, 190 Ohio App. 3d 286
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedOctober 28, 2010
DocketNo. 10AP-151
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 941 N.E.2d 859 (State v. Crump) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Crump, 941 N.E.2d 859, 190 Ohio App. 3d 286 (Ohio Ct. App. 2010).

Opinion

Sadler, Judge.

{¶ 1} Appellant, Brandon Crump, filed this appeal seeking reversal of a judgment by the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas finding him guilty on a charge of burglary, a second-degree felony. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.

{¶ 2} At around 6:20 p.m. on October 27, 2009, Katherine Spencer called 9-1-1 to report that she saw two black males breaking into her neighbor’s apartment at 660 Woodrow Avenue, Apartment L. Spencer told the dispatcher that she had seen the two men break into the apartment through a back window and that she had then seen them going in and out of the apartment’s back door. At trial, Spencer testified that she had not actually seen the two individuals breaking in through the window, but assumed they had because the window was open.

{¶ 3} In the recording of the 9-1-1 call, Spencer described the two as “skinny black guys,” one wearing a black hoodie and one wearing a red one. At trial, Spencer testified that she was not certain whether the red jacket worn by the individual she saw was a hoodie or a regular jacket with no hood. Spencer also testified that she did not know whether the jacket had an Ohio State logo or not. At the time of his arrest, appellant was wearing a jacket with an Ohio State logo on the back and no hood.

{¶ 4} Spencer also told the dispatcher that she was not watching out her window the entire time because she did not want to be seen calling the police. After Spencer informed the dispatcher that she had seen the police arrive, she ended the call. At trial, Spencer testified that she saw the police apprehend the individual she had seen breaking into the apartment, and she identified appellant as that individual.

{¶ 5} When being questioned at trial about her view of the red jacket, Spencer volunteered that she had been drinking earlier in the day of the break-in. Spencer denied ever smoking “weed.”

{¶ 6} Officers Glenn Bray and Todd Eagon of the Columbus Police Department responded to the call. Bray testified that as the officers approached the scene, he saw an individual wearing a red jacket leaving the back patio of the apartment. The officers took the individual, whom Bray identified at trial as appellant, into custody. Upon searching appellant, Bray found a box of ammunition in appellant’s pocket. Bray further testified that he did not think the red jacket worn by appellant was a hoodie and that it had a sports logo of some type on the back, but he could not state whether it was an Ohio State logo. Bray testified that he was not concerned about details regarding the jacket, because the description he had been provided was that of a person wearing a red jacket, and he did not consider the distinction between a hoodie and a regular jacket to be important.

[290]*290{¶ 7} The state also called as a witness Anthony Turner, who lived at 660 Woodrow Avenue, Apartment L, with Kenya Nettles and her child. Turner testified that neither he nor anyone else was at the apartment at the time of the break-in but that he was contacted shortly thereafter. Turner testified that the apartment had been ransacked and that some items of property were missing, including a large-screen television and a gun. Turner also testified that when he arrived at the apartment, the back window had been pried open, and a computer belonging to Nettles was on the back patio. Turner further testified that the box of ammunition found on appellant’s person belonged to him.

{¶ 8} Detective John Chapman of the Columbus Police Department testified that he was assigned to investigate the burglary in this case. Chapman testified that he was unable to find any fingerprints at the scene. He also testified that he interviewed appellant after appellant’s arrest and that during the interview, appellant was wearing a red Ohio State jacket.

{¶ 9} During his case-in-chief, appellant called his brother, James Crump, as a witness. James testified that appellant would normally wear either a red Ohio State jacket or a gray hoodie, but that appellant did not wear a red hoodie. Defense counsel asked James whether he had seen Spencer smoking something other than tobacco products within the two and one-half weeks prior to trial. The prosecuting attorney objected to the question, and the trial court sustained the objection.

{¶ 10} During trial, appellant testified on his own behalf. Appellant testified that on the day in question, he had been walking in an alley in the area of the apartment buildings when he first saw Rodriguez Turner, Anthony Turner’s cousin. Subsequently, while still walking in the alley, appellant saw an individual named Malakai Lewis walking through the alley carrying a television. Appellant testified that Lewis told him that Lewis and a number of other people had broken into Anthony Turner’s apartment and taken a number of items of property. Appellant then testified that he went to the apartment to check on what had happened, found the box of ammunition near the patio, and picked it up so he could return it to Turner, at which time the police arrived on the scene and arrested him.

{¶ 11} Appellant requested that the jury instructions include an instruction on theft as a lesser-included offense of burglary. The trial court declined to give such an instruction, finding that theft is not a lesser-included offense of burglary.

{¶ 12} The jury returned a verdict of guilty, and appellant was sentenced to a term of eight years of imprisonment. Appellant filed this appeal and asserts four assignments of error:

[291]*291Assignment of Error One

The trial court committed error when limiting the testimony of a defense witness.

Assignment of Error Two

The trial court erred when it refused to allow the defendant’s request for a jury instruction for theft.

Assignment of Error Three

The verdict is against the sufficiency and manifest weight of the evidence.

Assignment of Error Four

There was insufficient evidence to convict the defendant.

{¶ 13} In his first assignment of error, appellant argues that the trial court erred when it did not allow questioning of appellant’s brother James about whether he had seen Spencer smoking marijuana approximately two and one-half weeks prior to trial. We review a trial court’s decision regarding the admission of evidence for an abuse of discretion. State v. Conway, 109 Ohio St.3d 412, 2006-Ohio-2815, 848 N.E.2d 810, ¶ 62, citing State v. Issa (2001), 93 Ohio St.3d 49, 752 N.E.2d 904. Thus, our inquiry is limited to determining whether the trial court acted unreasonably, arbitrarily, or unconscionably in deciding the evidentiary issues. Comuay at ¶ 62, citing State v. Barnes (2002), 94 Ohio St.3d 21, 759 N.E.2d 1240.

{¶ 14} Evid.R. 608(B) provides:

Specific instances of the conduct of a witness, for the purpose of attacking or supporting the witness’s character for truthfulness, other than conviction of crime as provided in Evid.R. 609, may not be proved by extrinsic evidence.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
941 N.E.2d 859, 190 Ohio App. 3d 286, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-crump-ohioctapp-2010.